Kunstformen der Natur

An event presented by N8Linie at the Kantine at the SchauSpielHaus

 

Plankton is a collective term for all organisms that float in water—with little or no movement of their own. Their direction of movement therefore depends more or less on the water current. 

Plankton organisms mark the beginning of life on the planet. Some species are among the oldest on Earth. Plankton is not only the (now endangered) foundation of oceanic food chains; half of the Earth’s available oxygen is also produced by plankton. The diversity of planktonic life forms is overwhelming. Some species reproduce asexually, others sexually; some are capable of multiple modes of reproduction simultaneously. Apparently, there are species that can regress from sexually mature individuals to immature, juvenile stages, thereby repeating their entire life cycle over and over again (Turritopsis dohrnii).

There is a multitude of complex symbiotic relationships between animals and animals, but also between animals and plants. Life forms that are carried along by ocean currents yet manage, through minute steering movements, to navigate with pinpoint accuracy to destinations thousands of kilometers away challenge our conception of autonomy and self-determination. Drifting with the current, surrendering to it, and wandering aimlessly while making use of natural conditions appear here as an efficient form of locomotion. In short: Plankton poses major challenges to our conception of metabolism, reproduction, variety, and diversity—perhaps even of life itself. Dramaturg Christian Tschirner takes on this challenge in both rhyming and non-rhyming forms.

More info:Deutsches SchauSpielHaus – Art Forms of Nature – Tickets